Effective Ammonia Production from Nitrogen and Water under Ambient Conditions through Proton-Coupled In Situ Radiolytic Electron Transfer

作者：Changjiang Hu, Junyi Zhao, Ruisi Chang, Hui Dong, Zhiwen Jiang, Xiang Li, Shinichi Yamashita, Pengfei Zheng, Degao Wang, Qing Huang, Xiaoping Ouyang, Yuxiang Bu, Shuao Wang, Jun Ma · 发表于：Journal of the American Chemical Society · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1021/jacs.5c11505 · 被引用次数：5 · 研究领域：Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction、Chemical Reactions and Isotopes、Hydrogen Storage and Materials

Ammonia (NH 3 ) is a vital component for sustaining global food supplies and fuel production, but its industrial production via the Haber–Bosch process remains energetically demanding and carbon-intensive. Here, we report an electron-beam-activated NH 3 synthesis strategy that utilizes only atmospheric N 2 and water as feedstocks under ambient conditions. This approach achieves an industrially relevant rate of 83.6 μmol g –1 s –1 with a substantially improved energy efficiency of 0.53 MJ/mol, which surpasses most laboratory-scale technologies and is comparable to that of the Haber–Bosch process. Time-resolved operando spectroscopic experiments, combined with theoretical calculations, reveal that this distinct activation mode enables rapid N 2 →NH 3 conversion through a proton-coupled transfer of an in situ generated energetic hydrated electron. Furthermore, techno-economic analysis and life-cycle assessment demonstrate that the operational simplicity and exceptional throughput of the present N 2 fixation approach could promote nitrogen circularity in the sustainable chemical industry.